15th Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus - Hot Time

1/38This wild Hemi-packed ’29 sedan slinks its way through the Ohio Expo Center, part of the parade of award winners. The dropped, chopped, and channeled Model A, built on a Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle chassis, is owned by father and son, Bob and Ryan Rose.

Things were cooking in Columbus! In the days leading up to the event we had been checking the weather reports from central Ohio, hoping the triple-digit temperatures and 90-plus percent humidity would take a dive before we got to town. It didn’t, and 6,000 street rods, customs, classic trucks, street machines, street cruisers, and muscle cars came with some heat of their own, making the 15th Goodguys PPG Nationals one of the hottest events of the summer.

Taking place right in the middle of Goodguys’ list of 20 events for 2012, the Nats in Columbus has become the centerpiece of all the Goodguys shows. With the participant show car count typically topping the 6,000 mark, it’s the largest by far. But it’s not just quantity that makes Columbus hot. The quality of cars is sizzling. Many of the country’s most prominent builders come here to show off their newest projects. And Columbus is where Goodguys selects its Street Rod of the Year (this year’s winner is Dave Walsh’s ’32 Vicky, built by Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop), in addition to more than 100 other award winners. STREET RODDER, as always, is on hand to select 10 finalists for our Top 100 program from the participants here.

Nobody works harder for their awards than the participants in the Goodguys AutoCross competition. Goodguys introduced this program several years ago and it has exploded in popularity, attracting novices curious to test their cars and driving skill on the timed cone course, as well as purpose-built sponsored vehicles that really put on a show.

3/38Glowing copper paint covers Danny Martin’s ’50 Buick fastback custom. The North Carolina–based sled features frenched headlights, Cadillac taillights, a Buick 455 under the hood, and a stance that makes it look like it’s pouncing even standing still.

You don’t even need a car to get a prize at the PPG Nats. Lots of people went home with prizes from the extensive swap meet, and even more with treasure from one of the many manufacturer displays.

By early evening the temperature drops and the Expo Center empties out, but the Nats stay hot as the activity shifts from the fairgrounds to the nightly parties in the parking lot of the host hotel. The PPG Nats doesn’t cool down all weekend!

We’ve got a lot of events to attend between now and next summer, but we’re already looking forward to being back in Columbus for the 16th Goodguys Nats. There’s no way we can predict the weather, but we know it’s going to be a hot weekend!

Painless Performance Products presents

Street Rodder Top 100

For the Top 100 program, STREET RODDER attends 10 selected car shows each year and picks 10 vehicles at each to make up the Top 100. For more on where those shows are and how they’re voted on, check www.streetrodder.com.

Painless Tech Tip

If you have acquired an engine that has sat for six months or longer, be sure to remove the injectors and have them tested before attempting to start the engine, as the reformulated fuels of today will cause the injector solenoids to stick closed.

Early

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We liked Shadow Rods’ XL27 LRHC roadster pickup so much we built one to drive across the country on the 2010 AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour. Probably the only XL27 rpu with as many miles on it as ours is this one, owned by Jon Hall, the car’s creator.

Hall’s re-imagined T stretches the dimensions a little, making it a better fit for the 21st century’s larger dimensioned street rodders.

32/38Booth-Arons Racing Engines in Berkley, MI, is known for high-performance drag race engines, but built the very streetable Ford 302 for Hall’s ’27 roadster pickup.

The interior was done at DTS Enterprises, where the Wise Guys split bench seat was covered in Ultraleather. Matching carpet covers the floor. Tasteful dashboard pinstriping flanks a row of Classic Intruments gauges. A ’40 Ford steering wheel finishes off the cockpit, kept comfy on cool days by a Vintage Air heater.

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The Ford engine in Hall’s updated T is a Booth-Arons Racing Engines 302, fired up with an MSD ignition with Taylor wires, and topped with a Holley carburetor and Billet Specialties air cleaner. Sanderson headers draw the exhaust. The 302 is matched with a Tremec T-5 five-speed transmission.

34/38The roadster pickup is clean and simple on the inside, thanks to DTS Enterprises in Ellsworth, MI.

You’ve seen Hall’s private ride in these pages before, and we’re glad to bring it around again for another look, this time as a recipient of the STREET RODDER Best Ford In A Ford award.

Jon Hall, Saginaw, MI

1927 Ford roadster

Late

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Many times you will hear about how someone was able to find a cherry old car that has “never been touched” by the soiled hands of a decrepit hot rodder who would think nothing of taking vintage tin and perverting it for his own desires. It doesn’t take long before any sign of what was there to be gone because, like they say, “It’s only original once.”

But Jerry Horsley, from Greenfield, Indiana, has a pretty good excuse for making a street rod out of a pristine ’49 Ford: he’s owned it since 1964! It was the first purchase he and his new bride, Barbara, made together after getting married. Paying only $250 for it back when Lyndon Johnson was president, Jerry restored the car in the ’70s and it was maintained that way for the next 44 years.

36/38Performance is the name of the game with the 347 stroker motor from Smeding Performance. Dressed with lots of polished aluminum, the small-block Ford backs to an AOD transmission.

But even the most solid rock eventually crumbles and, about four years ago, Jerry decided he’d like to make a street rod out of his cruiser. It wasn’t like he was struck by a lightning bolt or anything—he’d been around hot rodding for many years, and even helped his boy, Mark, get his mint green ’48 Ford into the pages of STREET RODDER back in January of 1995; Mark was just 21 years old.

Jerry was 70 years old when he started the redo of his beloved Ford, and he hooked up with Jim Robinson for some of the engineering help he was going to need. The Ford 9-inch rearend was narrowed 6 inches in order to accommodate the wide wheels inside the fenders and the frame has been C-notched to help get the stance lower.

37/38Over an underlayment of Dynamat insulation, Coverall used tan leather with ostrich inserts to create the interior in Jerry’s ride. The rear buckets are out of a Thunderbird while the fronts are from a Mustang.

The stock frame then received a Fatman Fabrications IFS setup, and four-wheel disc brakes and QA1 coilovers were added to each corner. The 17x6 and 18x10 Coy wheels are wrapped in 205/55-17 and 235/60-18 rubber. Under the hood is a well-detailed 347 Ford small-block from Smeding Performance, which also has a Front Runner belt system from Vintage Air.

Jeff Burns, of Shelbyville, Indiana, is the guy responsible for all of the custom bodywork and paint, as he frenched the headlights, shaved the door and trunk handles, and removed the vent windows. Another addition is the baby spotlights in each A-pillar. Gordon Riley made the billet hinges that support the hood, which was bull-nosed by Burns. Burns also painted the car (with Glasurit materials) black and then smoothed out the bumpers before reattaching them fore and aft.

Jerry turned to Coverall (Martinsville, Indiana) for the exceptional interior, which features tan leather with ostrich inserts over a liberal use of Dynamat insulation. Mustang buckets seats were used up front while the rears came out of a Thunderbird. The console that runs down the middle of the car is custom as are the small stainless steel trim pieces that are used throughout the interior.

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Up on the smooth dash a 5-n-1 Haneline gauge tells Jerry what’s going on with his car and a Flaming River steering wheel and column help him get there. The radio, window controls (to operate the Nurelics power system), and door switches are built into the front of the console and the A/C system is located under the dash.

Jerry has been driving the car a fair amount since the redo and, when they take it Florida every year, he drives the wheels off of it down there, too. After Barbara and Jerry welcomed their son into the world back in 1974, Mark so enjoyed climbing around in it Jerry thought his ’49 would someday belong to his son, so they never sold it. Though a confirmed car addict (he recently had as many as 22 cars), Jerry always knew this was the one he’d never sell. More than 48 years later, he and Barbara still enjoying tooling around town in it.